Microsoft YouTube channel hacked

Updated below with Microsoft’s statement saying it has regained control.

Unless this is some elaborate publicity stunt, Microsoft’s official YouTube channel appears to have been taken over by someone not affiliated with the company, who has removed all of the videos and posted solicitations for sponsorships, apparently anticipating an influx of traffic as the news spreads.

I subscribe to the company’s YouTube updates and received notification this morning of two new uploads by the company, both of them rudimentary videos apparently soliciting advertisements for the channel. Since then a third video has been uploaded, along the same lines.

A message on the channel reads, “I DID NOTHING WRONG I SIMPLY SIGNED INTO MY ACCOUNT THAT I MADE IN 2006 :/”

We’ve contacted the company to find out what’s going on.

Update, 11:40 a.m.: Microsoft says in a statement, “We are aware that someone has altered the YouTube channel devoted to Microsoft videos. We are working with YouTube to rectify the situation.”

Update, 2:07 p.m.: A new statement from Microsoft: “We have regained control of the Microsoft channel on YouTube, and we are working to restore all of the original content. We will continue to work with YouTube to ensure safeguards are in place for the future.”

No word yet on what happened; we’ve asked the company for more details.

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Comments

Lol, I had just looked at the notifications RIGHT BEFORE SEEING THIS ARTICLE!? Just thought they were some stupid tips and contest videos. LOL!

Guest

Shame on Google. Google, the parent company of YouTube, has a duty to protect its corporate partners. By abrogating its duty, it is endangering all corporate YouTube accounts.

Shame, Google. Shame.

Jon

Not sure where you think Google has a “duty to protect” someone’s account. Corporate and individual accounts are hacked all the time. If Google has such a duty, then wouldn’t Microsoft have a duty to make sure that no one’s Hotmail account ever got hacked? Your logic is flawed here. What if the person/department at Microsoft was just careless with the password…. would you feel the same?

Guest

Google is running a video delivery platform that they’re pitching as better than in-house solutions. Their corporate customers therefore have an expectation that YouTube will not allow their account to be “hacked.” Even if the password were compromised, there are alternatives that maintain account security, such as restricting logins to IP addresses that are known to belong to Microsoft.

Individual accounts are not relevant to this discussion, Jon. These represent costs and liabilities for Google, not revenue opportunities. Frankly, I would enjoy YouTube a lot more if all the illiterate 12-year-olds were banned from posting rap videos they recorded by pointing their cell phones at their TVs. Yuck.

Afzaal Ameer

Oops, So whats the need of a password, why not have a retina check as password along with a DNA sequence test. LoL

http://twitter.com/Tsi_villain Michael Ali

And Shame on Microsoft for having a recent update that wiped Chrome browsers on people PCs. The update apparently thinks that the chrome browser was malware so it removed it.

Guest

A web browser that updates itself with code downloaded from an unknown source without the user’s explicit consent? That is malware, Michael, and Microsoft was right to delete it. What would you say if I “upgraded” your compusoftware without your explicit consent?

http://twitter.com/Tsi_villain Michael Ali

Any update i get pertaining what i use in a daily basis, Yes i will update it, if there an update. So now its bad that Chromes has updates daily to improve the browser. We all know Microsoft are competitive and will force people to use there own products.

Guest

You need to realize that Chrome could download an “update” that wipes out your hard drive at any given moment, and you wouldn’t even have the right to say “no” before it is installed. Therefore, Chrome’s inattention to security makes it malware.

Until you learn about security, I’m confiscating your laptop and replacing it with iPad. At least the App Store asks you about updates before you install them.

Guest

The issue is that Chrome updates itself. No user intervention required. That’s potentially dangerous. In fact Chrome doesn’t even install to programs. It installs to your user profile to bypass administrative protections. Again, potentially very dangerous.

Guest

I’m sure Google will find some way of blaming this security breach on a MS product.

http://twitter.com/Tsi_villain Michael Ali

Microsoft is garbage IE sucks and it slow and very easy to hack it, look up its history.